Coalition calls for March byelection to replace David Feeney's High Court hearing

By Eryk Bagshaw

21 January 2018 — 12:15am

The Turnbull government has called for a March byelection to replace the High Court hearing of Labor MP David Feeney after the embattled MP told the High Court he did not have any paperwork to prove he was not a British citizen.

Leader of the House Christopher Pyne said Mr Feeney should stop wasting taxpayers money and go straight to the polls in a Batman byelection that Labor fears it could lose to the Greens.

The publicly funded legal bill for the fiasco is expected to spiral to more than $2 million by the time hearings are completed, with taxpayers forking out $130,000 on barristers for each day of the high court case.

"David Feeney has had seven weeks to produce the so-called documents he claims exist proving he renounced his UK citizenship, the fact that he hasn't been able to provide them proves they simply don't exist," Mr Pyne said.

Batman MP David Feeney.

Photo: Chris Hopkins

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"The Coalition has faced two byelections over dual citizenship while Bill Shorten, in quite possibly his worst display of hypocrisy in his political career, has run a protection racket for his own MPs over dual citizenship".

Mr Feeney, a Victorian factional ally and close friend of Mr Shorten, was referred to the High Court in December on the day the government published its citizenship register after seven other MPs and senators had already had their cases heard.

He told the Parliament his father was born in Northern Ireland making him eligible for British citizenship, which he claims he later renounced in 2007 but was unable to prove.

At the time he said he remained "hopeful that continuing searches of UK records and archives will clarify" his renunciation in his favour.

Leader of the House and Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Almost two months later, no such documents have been found – leaving Mr Feeney's status as a citizen under UK law unclear – and potentially in breach of Section 44 of the Constitution.

On Friday, the High Court gave Mr Feeney until February 1 to produce the documents and confirm expert witnesses.

"Mr Shorten needs to stand up and admit that David Feeney is a UK citizen and demand a March byelection in the seat of Batman instead of wasting taxpayers' money fighting the inevitable," Mr Pyne told Fairfax Media.

On Friday, Mr Shorten said Mr Feeney had taken all reasonable steps and it was now a matter for the High Court.

Labor MP Susan Lamb.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

If Mr Feeney once again fails to produce documents and a byelection is called, it could be just one of a swag of close polls facing Labor in the first half of this year.

Mr Feeney holds the Melbourne seat of Batman on a margin of less than 1 per cent after a 9.5 per cent swing to Greens candidate Alex Bhathal in 2016. Two other marginal Labor seats of Longman in Queensland and Braddon in Tasmania could also come into play.

Labor Senator Katy Gallagher, who also faced the High Court directions hearing on Friday, is being used as a test case by the opposition to see what the High Court defines as taking "reasonable steps" to renounce dual-citizenship.

Senator Gallagher was still a British citizen when she nominated for election and only received confirmation from the UK Home Office two months after the cut-off date.

Tasmanian Labor MP Justine Keay, who applied for renunciation but did not receive confirmation until after the election, is in the same situation and doubts still remain over the citizenship status of her colleague Susan Lamb.

The Longman MP's renunciation was not confirmed by the UK Home Office because she was unable to provide her parents' marriage certificate due to an estrangement from her mother.

Mr Shorten said this week he was "disgusted" Ms Lamb was being pursued over her dual citizenship despite her personal circumstances.